Counseling Records Ethical Essay

My First impression of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) Code of Ethics is that this is a very standing ethical code. The NBCC Code of Ethics covers all aspects of how a counselor should advocate, represent, and protect. The NBCC Code of Ethics prevents a counselor from counseling in a field that they do not have training, and it prevents a counselor from unlawful discrimination The NBCC Code of Ethics even regulates how a counselor should behavior on social media in regards to their practice, research, and voicing of opinions.

Professional associations establish codes of ethics to ensure that clinicians uphold the standards of their association in order to protect the clients they serve and the profession they are affiliated with. This paper will compare the codes of ethics of the American Counseling Association (ACA), American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

Professional counselors and their staff are exposed to sensitive client information and records. The helpful receptionist and whose privilege videos, show how to apply both the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics (ACA Code of Ethics) and state board counseling laws to common ethical scenarios. The content explores aspects designed to call attention to favorable and unfavorable skills and techniques in handling such matters. These two videos demonstrate the limitations of confidentiality and privileged information. As a professional counselor one is expected to uphold the principles of confidentiality and privilege according to the ACA Code of Ethics and state laws. One may conclude that the helpful receptionist video shows clear violations of confidentiality. While the whose privilege video indicates the significance of insuring that counselors comprehend state laws and ethics codes pertaining to confidentiality and privilege. Furthermore, counseling professionals are held accountable for violating ethics codes and state laws as well as training staff on informed consent.

This essay will discuss the legal and ethical concerns when working with children and young people. Confidentiality and safety issues will be discussed with relevant consideration as to how these issues may be addressed when forming a relationship with a child and their parents or caregivers. The influences of power, gender, ethnicity and cultural differences when counselling children and young people will be mentioned, with relevant aspects of key human development theories outlined. There are many things to consider when building a therapeutic relationship with a child or young person and potential challenges will be analysed and discussed. Finally, there are many skills needed to effectively communicate children and young

We are going to explore the world of ethical issues in psychology. As in any medical or mental health fields there are rules we all must follow as professionals. In this essay today we will be exploring a case study where we have a young lady who has been stricken by a mental disability. We will be looking at the facts in which her disability was handled by a professional in the field of psychology. We also will be discussing the rights and wrongs that are presented in her case study. We will also be discussing the APA ethical codes and gain a clearer understanding of where some things went wrong and why shall we begin.

There are at least 10 significant struggles and/or ethical violations discussed in the book. Read the book, choose three ethical issues or violations, and cover:

* I believe it is unethical for the counselor to reveal anything said in individual counseling with the husband. She didn’t address a “no secrets” policy in the informed consent. Sharing this information with the wife without his permission is unethical. In marriage counseling the “no secrets” policy needs to be addressed and explained in the informed consent. Since she did not have a policy concerning this, she is bound by confidentiality which should have been in her informed consent.

To do that, the information from a treatment provider can be most helpful. So if the information from a provider doesn’t make its way to the court by way of direct testimony, in defense to the confidentiality issues, it may do so through a guardian or evaluators interview with the provider. But in most cases, one way or another information from a counselor and his or her records will find its way to the judge who needs it” (Psychotherapy, 2008).

This was tricky due to how the ACA Code of Ethics is written, addressing areas such as reports and record keeping loosely under many of its heading. In one particular area it does speak about how counselors must obtain permission to record or observe someone (ACA Code of Ethics, 2014). When dealing particularly with records, the ACA speaks about many different kinds ranging from client records to research records. In section H.2.b. Confidentiality Maintained by the Counselor it states; "Counselors acknowledge the limitations of maintaining the confidentiality of electronic records and transmissions. They inform clients that individuals might have authorized or unauthorized access to such records or transmissions (e.g., colleagues, supervisors, employees, information technologists)" (pg. 18). In multiple different sections the ACA speaks about confidentiality as well as the truthfulness of all reports and records. How and whom they are released to, as well as how they are kept secure, are all very important aspects of records and reports. I could not find any information pertaining to service reimbursement in the

The confidentiality for Health Care records is extremely important and it has a higher standard when comparing to other health care facilities. As far as Health records we have to observe very close to the HIPAA laws and be real cautious to do what it says. Additionally some psychotherapy’s notes are never released unless that is for continuation of care or if I receive a court order sign by a judge.

Record keeping is a very controversial topic in the realm of psychology. Recording keeping is important in many professions but more so for psychologists. Records are to be kept for clients, documents such as type of service, service duration, nature of intervention and contact, and the current assessment(Fisher,2013).

Dual relationships and the ethical behavior that revolves around boundaries with clients present a multitude of very complicated situations to counselors where a clearly defined course of action is not always evident. Aside from no accord amongst mental health professionals and boundary issues being unavoidable at times, recognition and prediction of potential benefits or pitfalls correlated with dual relationships can prove to be troublesome as well (Remley & Herlihy, 2010). For most cases, it is best if an outline is used to discern when it is appropriate for a counselor to breach the client-counselor boundary.

To begin with, the client whose name is Mr. Sam Pilsudski has an obstructed airway secondary to cancer of the larynx. He is a 67-year-old widower, and a father of one son and two daughters, who is unconscious and terminally ill, if not for a much-needed operation to remove both his cancer and larynx to save his life. However, one of Mr. Pilsudski’s daughters has adamantly refused to consent to the surgical procedure despite the physician explaining that although the operation would unfortunately render his patient disabled without a voice consequentially, but ultimately surviving the procedure to live and recover. Moreover, the physician attempted with rational and clear communication to express the gravity of the rather poor prognosis of his illness to his daughter that in the event of foregoing the surgery, his patient would surely die (Ralph Dolgoff, Donna Harrington, and Frank M. Loewenberg (2012), Ethical Decisions for Social Work Practice. 9th Ed; p. 279).

“Specific state and federal laws and regulations govern psychological record keeping. To the extent possible, this document attempts to provide guidelines that are generally consistent with these laws and regulations. In the event of a conflict between these guidelines and any state or federal law or regulation, the law or regulation in question supersedes these guidelines. It is anticipated that psychologists will use their education, skills, and training to identify the relevant issues and attempt to resolve conflicts in a way that conforms to both law and ethical practice.”

Whilst working in a remote area I observed a year nine indigenous student (Lorena Bannard) and a teacher (Bill James), alone together after school hours. I considered this could be an unprofessional situation. I spoke to Bill later regarding the situation and he replied, “I’m helping her with some family problems, and I’m concerned about the effect it’s having on her school work”. I suggested he refer Lorena to the Guidance Officer.